And even though I like to think myself as smart, it's a hell of a lot easier to be first!

Didn't he say sometjing like "while believe we have a hell lotta smart people under this roof, it is a lot easier to be first"? After all, it wasn't brains that got him in his chair, earning the big bucks, he can assure you!

Do you care to know why I earn the big bucks?

I’m here for one reason alone. To guess what the music might do a week, a month, a year from now. And standing here tonight I’m afraid that I. Don’t. Hear. A. Thing.

Just… silence.

And to spin the quote further:

"And there are a lot of smart people in Silicon Valley. It's a hell of a lot easier to be first."

But to be first, you must be smarter. Or cheat.